Oregon’s Coastal Plan:A Walk on the Wild (and Hatchery) Side

AFS Hatchery/Wild

Symposium

Ed Bowles

ODFW

Lessons in:

• Conservation science

• Fish management

• Social/political engagement

Native Fish Conservation Policy

Goals

• Prevent serious depletion of native species

… so that natural production of native fish

is sustainable.

• Maintain and restore naturally produced

native fish species … to provide substantial

ecological, economic and cultural benefits…

• Foster and sustain opportunities for sport,

commercial and tribal fishers consistent

with conservation...

Conservation and Recovery Plans Completed or in progress

Plans for 22 of 28

anadromous

salmonid species

completed by 2015

Shifting from

planning to

implementation

What’s different about this plan?

Jay Nicholas

• Multispecies

• None ESA listed

• Conservation & use

• Portfolio approach

Planning Area and Species

• Chinook

• Spring Chinook

• Winter Steelhead

• Summer Steelhead

• Chum

• Coastal Cutthroat

• Coho

Public Involvement

• Nearly 2-yr process

• Professional facilitation

• Stakeholder Teams

• Town Hall meetings

• Legislative hearings

• Commission meetings

Common Ground and Tensions (necessary for progress)

• Legislative fix

• Hatchery in every garage

vs

• Hatchery/harvest litigation

• ESA listings

• Love fish

• Support fishing

• Want good habitat

• Want vibrant economies

Let’s get planning!

Start with

best

available

science

),,(),,(),,|},({

),,(),,|},({

)(

)()|()|(

dpRSp

pRSp

xp

pxpxp

θθθ

Bayes’ theorem of conditional probability

can improve PVA

data parameters

likelihood

prior

evidence

Intrinsic Productivity ()

Ric

ke

r

2 4 6 8 10

0.00005

0.0001

0.00015

Productivity

Ca

pa

city (N

eq )

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 201000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

Productivity

Ca

pa

city (N

eq )

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 111000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

11000

Extinction P

robabili

ty

95% Highest Probability Density Interval

Equili

brium

Abundance (

Neq

)

Productivity

Species and Status

Chinook Spring

Chinook

Chum

Winter

Steelhead

Summer

Steelhead

Coastal

Cutthroat

Status and Limiting Factors

• Current Status – remarkably good (except for chum and a

few populations), though caution is

warranted

• Desired Status – improve to ensure conservation and

support fishing

• Limiting Factors

- Hatchery: Yes (a few locations)

- Harvest: Chinook, Spring Chinook

- Other Species: Predation (pinnipeds, birds, non-native fish)

- Habitat: Yes!

Hatchery Actions

Improved Conservation

• Consolidate some programs (5)

• Reduce some hatchery releases (3)

• Reduce hatchery fish on spawning

grounds

• Designate wild fish emphasis areas

Improved Opportunity

• Increase some hatchery releases

(11)

• Add some new hatchery programs

(3 ChS)

• Recognize hatchery emphasis

areas

Wild Fish Emphasis

1 Hatchery Program

2 Hatchery Programs

3-4 Hatchery Programs

N M U M-S Total

40

30

20

10

6M

5M

4M

3M

2M

1M

Releases

Programs

c

u

r

r

e

n

t

C

M

P

Hatchery Portfolio

Harvest Actions

Improved Conservation

• Sliding-scale harvest (wild)

• Protective periods (early run

Chinook)

• Critical thresholds

Improved Opportunity

• Sliding-scale harvest

• Stable wild coho fisheries

• New wild StW harvest (3)

• New ChS fisheries (3)

Predators Habitat

RM&E

Example Focus Area: Elk River Chinook

• Status: red to green

• Reduce H:W spawners

• Reduce H prod

• Improve homing

• Increase H harvest;

reduce W harvest

• Improve estuary habitat

• Improve upland habitat

• Increased RM&E

• Stakeholder partnerships

Passionate Participants

ODFW anti-hatchery bias• Close fisheries

• Shut down communities

• Economic collapse

ODFW anti-wild bias• Hatcheries everywhere

• Genetic/ecological collapse

• Wild fish armageddon

ODFW conservation/use mandate• Blend of wild & hatchery emphasis areas

• Hatchery/harvest reform

• Better conservation, better fishing

Outcomes…

• Portfolio of hatchery and wild fish emphasis areas

• Largest codified “wild fish only” area in lower 48

• Sliding scale harvest

• Habitat emphasis

• $3.5M Monitoring

• Hatchery BMPs

• OHRC

• Public/political support

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/coastal_multispecies.asp

Questions?